[Rumor] New Nissan Z car to use 400Z name

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From Autocar.co.uk ...


New Nissan Z car to use 400Z name and twin-turbo V6
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by Lawrence Allan 14 April 2020


Long-awaited 370Z replacement will send 400bhp to its
rear wheels, and is expected to be unveiled within
the next year.

The long-awaited successor to the Nissan 370Z is
finally becoming a reality - and the all-new sports
car could be revealed to the world within the next
12 months.

Tipped to be called the 400Z, it's set to make use of
a twin-turbocharged V6 offering greater levels of
performance than its predecessor.

With the 370Z having been on sale with only minimal
changes since 2009, rumours of what will replace it
have been circulating for years.

Nissan recently filed a trademark application in Canada
for a redesigned Z badge. It uses a retro font that
harks back to the original Z car, the Datsun 240Z, and
the later 260Z and 280Z.

The badge won't be the only element of the 400Z designed
to evoke memories of previous Nissan sports cars,
however. Some dealer managers in the US - the car's
largest market - have been privy to the new design, and
it's understood from them that the Japanese brand has
returned to its roots with a 240Z-inspired nose and
300ZX-inspired tail-lights.

Significant upgrades will also be made to the interior of
the 400Z over and above the 370Z, which was often
criticised for its outdated design.

Material quality is set to be brought into line with
Nissan's latest US-market models, while the antiquated
touchscreen will be replaced by a modern infotainment
system featuring connected services.

A digital instrument display could also be offered, while
advanced driver assistance technology will be brought in.

Details of the 400Z's specific underpinnings have yet to
be divulged but, given the relatively low sales and
margins of sports cars in this segment, it's unlikely to
be a bespoke platform. The rear-wheel-drive architecture
of sister brand Infiniti's Q50 and Q60 could be a prime
candidate for adaptation.

Supporting this theory, Autocar understands that the 400Z
will make use of an Infiniti-sourced powertrain. Shunning
the natural aspiration of its recent forebears, the new
sports car is tipped to utilise the flagship Q60's
3.0-litre twin-turbocharged V6.

This all-aluminium engine is part of the VR family, which
also includes a larger 3.8-litre unit used by the Nissan
GT-R.

Producing 400bhp in the Q60 (where it's mated to a
four-wheel drive system), the 3.0-litre V6 powers the
four-seat coupé from 0-62mph in 5.0sec. Although the 400Z
is expected to be rear-wheel drive, its performance should
be better than that, given that it will be significantly
lighter than the 1825kg Infiniti.

Nissan has experimented with this engine in the 370Z
already, fitting it with a manual gearbox and displaying
it at the SEMA aftermarket trade show in 2018. The 400Z
name also implies this power output, plus the latest
prototypes of the new Z car spied testing wore modified
370Z bodywork.

The 370Z appeals firmly to fans of old-school,
enthusiast-targeted sports cars, so it's likely Nissan will
want to offer a manual gearbox alongside an automatic.
However, rivals such as the Toyota GR Supra and Alpine A110
go without a stick-shift option.

There's also scope for the Nismo sub-brand to make a return
on a future faster variant of the 400Z, with more hardcore
suspension tuning and racier styling. Whereas the previous
370Z Nismo benefited from a boost of only 16bhp over the
standard car, turbocharging allows engineers to easily
release significantly more power if necessary.

Talking to Autocar last year, Nissan product planning boss
Ivan Espinosa confirmed that a plan was in place, saying we
"can expect something soon" on a new Z model. Design boss
Alfonso Albaisa echoed this, saying it was "easy to imagine"
a successor to the 370Z.

He added: "The Z is the car that democratised sports cars
back in the '60s. Before that, you had to have the money to
buy a Porsche or Jaguar. The current car has been a long
time in dealerships, and so you can imagine the designers
working on a successor, even if I'm not going to confirm
it."

No firm date for the 400Z's unveiling has been given yet.
Sources initially suggested a debut this year could be on the
cards, but the pandemic could easily cause the launch to be
delayed until next year.

Also a mystery is whether Nissan intends to offer the car in
Europe and in right-hand drive. The US has less stringent CO2
targets than the EU and UK, and selling such a car here would
have a negative impact on Nissan's fleet emissions.

However, with modest sales figures likely, this issue could
be minimised by restricting supply to these markets.


<https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/new-nissan-z-car-use-400z-name-and-twin-turbo-v6>